Rubber tire.



Patented luly l., |902.

w. n, HARRIS. -RUBBEB TIRE.

um Model.)

. 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. HARRIS, OF AKRON, OHIO.

RUBBER TIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,408, dated July 1, 1902. Application tied necemter 30,1901. serial No. 87,703. (naman.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAMR. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county o'f Summit and State of.` Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rubber Tires; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clea:, and eX-' act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to tires for vehicles, and more particularly to rubber or other forms of resilient tires; and my invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combination of parts, the preferred form whereof will be hereinafter fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this application. f l

The object of my invention is to provide reliably-effioient means for sustaining thel rub-- ber tire against undue strain and holding thev same upon the rim proper for'its reception.

Other objects and advantages will be made clearly apparent from the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a perspective view showing a section of the rim of a bicycle-wheel proper withmy im,

proved-rubber tire. Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in section, showing another form of construction which may be ladopted in combining the reinforcing elements of my invention together. Fig. 3 is an end View showing another form of construction for the-reinforcing devices.

For convenience the various elements of my invention willbe designated by numerals, together with the cooperating accessories, the same numeral being applied to a similar part throughout the several views.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 designates the rim of a bicycle or other variety of wheel, it being understood that my improved tire is useful not only upon bicycles, but other forms of vehicles, as buggies, automobiles, &c The rim l is provided with the centrally-disposed radial rib 2, which extends throughout the entirerim and is designed to be received by a similarly-formed groove or seat provided in the contiguous or central part of the tire proper, 3, formed of rubber or the like; and in order to hold the resilient material in the tire against spreading I provide the reinforcing or anchoring devices comprising the U -shaped body portion 4, provided with the laterally-extending terminals or branches 5. Designed to cooperate with said transversely-disposed stay-wires are the circumferentially-disposed .wires `or bands 6, one of said'bands being disposed upon either side of the rubber tire within a'suitable seat formed in this part of thetireA proper, said seat being'designed to hold the wires against casual displacement or spreading. In order, however, to more reliably hold the wires or bands 6 in place, I prefer in some instances to wrap the lateral branches 5 around a contiguous part of the bands 6, as indicated by the numeral 7 in Fig. 2. It will be understood that a plurality of the stay-wires 4, which are to be transversely embedded in the tire proper, may beconnected to the bands 6 at ess, and said bands and stay-wires after beingthus assembled maybe disposed in a closed or embedded within the material forming the rubber tire. By this arrangement it is obviousthat thel Uf'shaped bodyp'ortion 4 will permit a suitable groove to be provided in the inner face of 'the' tiretov receive the rib 2, formed upon the rim 1, aspreviously described. y

-It will .be understood that the U-shaped body portion 4 not only provides for the formation of a suitable groove, if desired, but said U-shaped part also permits the inner side of the tire to spread outward as incident to use, inasmuch as the resiliency of the wires will readily allow the U-shaped portions to open to considerable extent and at the same time insure that they will close again to ya tire has been removed. By the arrangement,

middle part of the transversely-disposed staywires the inner side of thevtire is left free to expand and contract, a very desirable and important desideratum. It will be obvious by reference to the drawings that whether the extreme outer ends of the transverse staywires are wrapped around or partly around the circumferential bands or whether said eX- normal position when the weight upon the v 95 therefore, of these U-shaped sections in theA suitable intervals prior to the-molding proci properform of vmold and thus entirely in- ICO treme ends are disposed straight outward through the tire, as shown in Fig. 1, said ends will still be in coperation with the said circumferential bands, inasmuch as when said ends are extended straight outward they yet so reinforce the inner edge of the tire as to aord a more rigid base or support for said bands.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a transverse section of the tire, wherein it will be observed that the lateral branches 5 are not bent entirely around the bands 6, but the ends thereof are extended upward sufciently to prevent lateral movement of said bands. It will be understood that the Various elements comprising my invention may be very cheaply and expeditiously manufactured and readily assembled in their respective operative positions, and while I have described the preferred construction of the various parts I desire to comprehend in this application all substantial equivalents and substitutes that may fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

It will be clear that a wire of Very small diameter may be employed both for the purpose of forming the transverselydisposed stays 4 and the bands 6, inasmuch as when said wires are embedded within the material forming the tire proper they will be protected against corrosion or the like. By providing the U-shaped section 4 I am not only able to dispose said sections within the body of the tire propel' without interfering with the rib 2, but I also insure a proper degree of resiliency for this portion of the tire, inasmuch as the tire may slightly spread upon each side of the rib 2, as will be desirable and incident to the use thereof.

It will be observed in Fig. l that the circumferential wires 6 are disposed in the radial recesses or grooves formed in the side or base of the tire proper, while in Fig. 2 the circumferential wires 6 are wholly embedded within the material forming the rubber, thus completely housing all of the wires, protecting them against corrosion.

In Fig. 3 a transverse section of the rubber tire is illustrated, showing all of the wires Wholly covered, and thereby so disposed as to be entirely out of sight, the formation and disposition of the transversely-disposed staywires being such as to in no wise interfere with the groove formed in the central portion of the base of the rubber tire proper. If preferred, the rib 2 may be formed or disposed so that it will extend in a zigzag line or staggered from side to side of the rim l and a correspondingly-shaped groove provided in the base of the tire, as such an arrangement of said rib and groove will prevent the tire from creeping or moving relatively about said rim, as will be obvious.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A tire comprising a resilient body portion havin ga groove throughout its inner face and also provided upon each side with circumferential reinforcing-bands, said bod y portion also having a plurality of transversely-disposed wires,each wire section being bent upon itself near its middle portion to providea U- shaped loop portion adapted to compensate for said groove, in combination with a rim having a rib fitting said groove, all combined substantially as specied and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a rim having a centrally-disposed rib, of a resilient tire provided with a groove in its inner face fitting said rib, and also having upon each side a circumferential band and a plurality of reinforcing transversely-disposed wires embedded in the tire-body, each transverse wire having near its middle section a U-shaped member fitting around said groove, each end of said stay-wires being directed outward into engagement with the circumferential band, whereby when the base of the tirebody is spread said U-shaped portion will yield and again draw the tire back into a normal position, all substantially as specified and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM R. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

FELIX MEssERLY, J. R. MELL. 

